Two-time defending CAA champion James Madison has been predicted to win the CAA women’s lacrosse title in 2012 according to a vote by the league’s eight head coaches.

JMU received six first-place votes and 48 points overall as coaches are not permitted to vote for their own team. Towson claimed the second spot, picking up the remaining two-place votes and 43 total points. Drexel was chosen third with 31 points, followed by Hofstra with 26 points in fourth. Delaware and William & Mary each totaled 29 points for fifth, while Old Dominion was selected seventh with 18 points. Rounding out the preseason poll was George Mason with 10 points.

The Dukes, who open the year as the nation’s ninth-ranked team in the International Women’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Association poll, are coming off a 15-4 season that included an NCAA Tournament appearance. JMU head coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe’s Dukes’ squad will be led by junior attacker Casey Ancarrow, who was tabbed a third team IWLCA All-America pick and first team All-CAA selection after tallying a team-high 43 goals last season. The U.S. National Team member also ranked third on the team with 16 assists a season ago.

Drexel opens 2012 play with eight returning starters from last season’s 9-8 squad that made its first appearance in the CAA Championship in program history. The Dragons will look to senior attacker Charlotte Wood (Conestoga) to spark the team’s offense. The second team All-CAA selection netted 46 goals last season, second best in the CAA. Joining Wood on attack will be junior Alyse Maiden, who was ranked second on the squad with 33 goals and added 15 assists in 2011. Junior midfielder Kelli Joran (Downingtown East) will add all-around good play, coming off a year in which she had 25 goals, 21 ground balls and a team-best 27 draw controls.

The CAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship is scheduled to get underway April 27 with semifinal action and the title contest is slated for April 29.